Crutch
by Talye Kendrin
Summary: They were just two friends, trying to survive the Dark Lord's reign. She and Draco Malfoy were dependent on each other, almost to the point of desperation. It wasn't always healthy-but they did what they had to, in order to survive. Draco/OC friendship mostly
1. lying in wait

" **CRUTCH"**  
By Talye Kendrin

 _chapter one_

* * *

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a star, Draco?"

"I don't need to wonder," Draco said blandly, one arm tossed over his eyes as he and Ilandra Feylock, a Slytherin in the year below him, lay sprawled on their backs in the Astronomy tower.

Ilandra threw him a look that he didn't see. "Har-har, Draco. You're a real hoot, really," she said sarcastically.

He smirked, arm still over his eyes. "Thanks. I'll be here all week."

Ilandra stared at him silently for a long moment, until finally he let his arm move to his side and looked over at her, meeting her gaze and matching her silence.

Finally, he broke it. "What?" he asked. "Have I got something on my face?"

Ilandra grinned impishly, before reaching over and pinching his cheek, causing him to squawk indignantly. "Ickle Drakey-kins. What a cute-ums," she said, baby-talking him. "Someday I'm gonna eat you up with a little spoon!"

Draco faked an expression of disgust, really appreciating the very un-serious attention she gave him. It felt nice to get away from the whole "working to let Death Eaters into the school" situation that he was working toward with the vanishing cabinet. And there was the fact that Voldemort had chosen _him_ to become a full-fledged Death Eater, making him feel pressured to be cruel to his fellow schoolmates just for the fact that they weren't purebloods. Sure, he had been raised to think of them as below him, but he had never really had it in him to be so brutal towards others. If Draco had been allowed his own way, he would have just sent them all off somewhere where they could be by themselves and let the purebloods live happily with the non-purebloods out of sight. After all, out of sight, out of mind, right? Well, not like he had any say in it in the end. But Ilandra helped distract him from the negative. It was… nice.

"Draco?" Ilandra asked, still staring at him, curled up on her side on the Astronomy tower floor, her voice sounding small and unsure of herself.

He turned his head toward her. "Yeah?" he asked quietly.

"Stay with me, okay?" she said, lacing her hand in his hair.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the touch she gave him. "I'll do my best," he said, not wanting to make empty promises and leave her broken like her mother had. Opening his eyes, he saw the worried look on her face and sighed, pulling her close so her head lay on his shoulder, not wanting to see the furrow on her forehead, the muffled fear in her eyes. "You know I wouldn't leave you if I had the choice, Illy."

"That's just it," she murmured into his shoulder. "I'm worried you won't have a choice."

* * *

Draco strode into the back alley as though he owned it, quite proud of his ability to give his usual group of friends the slip when he couldn't stand to be around them anymore. It was annoying, and not to mention stressful, having to put up his usual front all the time. He couldn't afford to let them see his weakness, though-couldn't afford to look anything less than the stalwart follower of the Dark Lord to anyone.

Anyone except Ilandra, that is.

As he walked, he mulled over the reason why he trusted her so deeply in the first place. Like himself, she was a Slytherin, and well-known in pureblood circles, although her mother was only a half-blood. Her father was from the well-respected Scottish Feylock clan, and he commanded quite a bit of authority within the Wizengamot. However, when the Dark Lord had come back to life two years ago and was recruiting followers, he had put out an offer to the Feylock patriarch...an offer which he had very unwisely refused. The result was that his half-blood wife was tortured and killed in order to sway his decision, a threat being given on Ilandra's life as well, at which point he had reluctantly joined the ranks of the Dark Lord's supporters.

It was something Ilandra was reminded of every day when she looked in the mirror, she'd told him when he'd spoken to her not long after, as a request from his father to ascertain her loyalty. After all, she looked so much more like her hispanic mother than she did her Scottish father-long, dark brown hair framed her tan face, the exact opposite of her father's pale, freckled skin and red, curly hair; and she'd inherited her mother's brown eyes father than her father's green ones. All in all, it was like staring at a younger version of her mother. She told him she hated it.

He'd kept talking to her after that, lying through his teeth to his father and saying that she was in no way a liability. There was no way he could out her. She was already broken, what was the sense in getting her killed? She wasn't strong enough to make a difference in the Dark Lord's plans anyway. Surely, there could be no harm in sparing her life.

And that was how he came to have one person who truly understood his fear and resignation. He didn't admire the Dark Lord for his power. He feared him for what destruction he would wreak upon the world. He couldn't deny him his requests, thus why he was working on bringing the Death Eaters into the castle. He feared for his family's safety, even being well-known and well-respected followers of him as they were.

Draco almost passed by the spot where he'd intended to go, so deep in his thoughts he was, but at the last moment he fumbled in his steps and took a sharp left, almost bumping into a very familiar person.

"Hey," Ilandra said, checking around him to make sure he hadn't been followed before wrapping him in a hug. His lips twitched upwards as though to smile, not quite making it there as he returned the embrace.

"Hey yourself," he said softly. "Come on, let's head inside."

She nodded, linking arms with him as they ducked inside the empty shop. The shopkeep had packed up and left for Australia a couple years back and no one had bothered to rent the space, so tucked away from all the main streets and foot traffic of Hogsmeade as it was. Thus, it had become a sanctuary for the two of them. Draco waved his wand over the door as they entered, muttering _colloportus_ , satisfied when he heard the click of the lock. Ilandra was already muttering the silencing spell to ensure even if anyone was listening in from another room in the building, they wouldn't be overheard. Satisfied, the two of them sat down side-by-side in the corner of the room, away from the frosted windows.

The silence stretched between them for a span of minutes, Draco staring at the wall opposite them while Ilandra fiddled mindlessly with strands of the thick carpet in front of her.

"It's going to happen soon," Draco finally murmured. He didn't have to elaborate. Ilandra knew what he was talking about. It was something both of them dreaded.

Ilandra was silent for a long moment before she replied simply, "I know." She sounded small, as though she were hoping she could just curl up and disappear.

Draco felt the words he wished he never had to speak stick in his throat. How could he speak them, when doing so would make everything that much more real? But he needed to tell her. If he didn't tell her, he knew there was no one else in the world, wizarding or otherwise, that he could confess this to. He swallowed thickly.

"I'm scared."

"I know," she reiterated, abandoning the carpet strands in order to turn and wrap him in a comforting embrace, her hand drawing soothing circles on his back. Her voice shook as she repeated herself. "I know."

The unspoken words hung between them, as clearly as though they had been spoken aloud:

 _I am, too._

* * *

Draco lay on his bed, staring unseeingly at the green canopy above him that looked more black in the darkness of the early morning hours. A jumble of thoughts raced through his weary mind, a million _what ifs_ that he could not chase away. What if his calculations were off? What if the vanishing cabinet didn't work after all? What if they punished his mother for his failure? What if he failed for other reasons, reasons out of his control? What if, when the time came, he didn't have the guts to complete his task? What if he couldn't cast the killing curse? What if Ilandra found out what the final part of his task actually was? What if she couldn't stand the sight of him once she knew? His eyes burned with unshed tears, and he covered his mouth with the back of his hand to keep from gasping. She was his rock, had been since the summer before this school year had started with all of its hardships and the mental anguish that came with it. She was, in his mind, the only thing keeping him sane.

Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, Draco jerked his head toward the source, his wand already in his hand as he prepared to curse whoever dared intrude on his solitude into oblivion. He calmed immediately upon seeing Ilandra's dark face, a concerned look on her face as she clambered onto the bed beside him, drawing the curtains once again so that no one would realize there was an extra person in Draco's bed, should they wake up. Neither the curtains nor the bed made a noise as she settled beside him, and the corners of his mouth lifted in the barest hint of a smile. She had a thing for sneaking about unheard and unnoticed, even when unaided by magic. It was just 'one of her things', she'd said.

Ilandra looked over at Draco for a moment before reaching over, wrapping her arms around her. He wasted no time in returning the favor, resting his chin on her shoulder. He whispered a silencing spell so that they wouldn't be heard, even though he'd already placed one around his bed before he'd succumbed to his own thoughts. He was becoming paranoid. Better paranoid than dead, though, his mind whispered.

Draco's eyes fluttered shut as he allowed himself to calm, tamping down on his fear of the unknown. Ilandra had that kind of effect on people-not just himself, he'd noticed. She was a very peaceful person; quiet; and she seemed to allow others to find some sense of peace in her presence.

He needed that tonight.

"Ilandra," he whispered against her shoulder, feeling his tense muscles relaxing as she soothingly stroked his hair.

"Yeah?" she whispered. He could hear the caring concern in her voice. She worried about him so much. It was like having a second mother, except she was much more open with her affection than his actual mother was. Not that he blamed his mother, with how much rode on outward appearances in his family.

Draco let out a shaky breath. "Don't leave?" It came out as more of a question than a request.

Ilandra sighed almost inaudibly. Staying wouldn't pose too much of a problem, she thought. She would make her great escape at some point in the morning. It wouldn't be the first time her dorm-mates didn't see her enter or leave their room for a night, and she knew how important it was to Draco that she be here for him. She shifted to a more comfortable position on the bed and continuing to stroke his hair, hoping he would be able to find at least a couple hours sleep that night.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Drakey-kins."


	2. avert your eyes

" **CRUTCH"**  
By Talye Kendrin

 _chapter two_

* * *

Ilandra had a Very Bad Feeling.

The fated day was here, and Draco had seemed just about ready to have a nervous breakdown this morning when he'd left for breakfast. Due to the fact that she wasn't supposed to be in the boys' dorm to begin with, Ilandra had patiently waited until the last of the lazy gits Draco shared a dorm with had left for breakfast, cursing the fact that she likely didn't have enough time to swing by the Great Hall for a bite to eat. Sighing as she snuck out of the dorm, making sure she wasn't seen, she decided to swing by the kitchen and bug the house elves for something she could eat on her way to class.

A couple minutes later she had a piece of buttered toast hanging out of her mouth as she absent-mindedly made her way to Transfiguration. Not that she thought she'd be able to focus on class today with the extent of worrying she was doing for her friend.

Unfortunately, her prediction was right. Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions all passed by in what seemed to her the blink of an eye, and the evening was upon them all too soon. She shivered involuntarily, knowing what was coming. Eating supper in the Great Hall with the rest of her housemates, she paused in pushing her food half-heartedly around her plate in order to look around at everyone else in attendance. Everyone looked so calm... so oblivious. It was... _infuriating_. Here her best friend was, suffering under the crushing weight of an evil secret, and with her unable to do anything to lift that weight without serious repercussion; and everyone was just sitting here, talking and laughing like there was nothing going on. Her lack of appetite turned to disgust with the food in front of her, and she made a face at her plate, shoving it away from her and standing to leave, ignoring her friends' questions to her retreating form. They weren't nearly as close to her as she was with Draco, so she knew they wouldn't care enough to follow her; they'd just question her that night when she got back to her dorm. If she went back. She tried not to spend too much time there these days, just so that she wouldn't have to lie to them about her whereabouts or the secrets she was privy to.

She needed air.

Not even thinking about where she was going, she began heading for her and Draco's usual spot, the Astronomy Tower. Climbing the least traveled staircase towards it, she lost herself to her thoughts of how after tonight, everything would be different. If Draco succeeded in the task he was given, there would be casualties. There was no way the Death Eaters would take over without making sure their reign would be one of terror. She wondered absently if her father would even allow her to attend next year. Would he even have a say? The Dark Lord would likely threaten him into making sure Ilandra attended along with the rest of her Slytherin housemates.

She was just about to push open the door when she realized there were voices coming from within the Astronomy Tower. She could feel her veins turn to ice as she recognized Draco's voice, sounding broken. She wanted to rush to him and tell him it would all be alright, but she also heard Snape and Dumbledore's voices, as well as someone whose voice she didn't recognize. She realized absently that the Death Eaters were already here. _Already in Hogwarts._

Too late.

She opened the door just enough to peer into the Tower, thankful the hinges didn't squeal.

A wild-looking woman was taunting Draco, telling him to 'do it, already'.

Do what?

Unfortunately, she realized too late what she meant as Draco pointed his wand at their mild-mannered headmaster.

"I have to," he said, voice sounding strangled.

 _No._

She couldn't watch. She turned and fled, crumpling to the floor once she found herself in one of the more abandoned corridors of the castle, barely being of the right mind enough to cast a silencing spell on herself before she collapsed into sobs.

There would be no recovering from this for Draco, she knew. He would never forgive himself. He would become a pit of self-loathing. He was too soft, too meek a person underneath that icy Slytherin exterior to be able to cope with killing someone like that in cold blood. He'd told her he actually looked up to Dumbledore, to an extent. He would never be able to live with the horror he'd just committed.

And she wouldn't be able to bear watching him unravel.

* * *

Draco felt numb.

He hadn't been able to do it. He hadn't been able to kill Dumbledore. His second task, entrusted entirely to him as a test from the Dark Lord, and he had failed utterly and completely. He didn't know how to feel. His mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts that was so hard to decipher that he might as well not be having any. The only thing that he knew of for sure was that he didn't want to be alone.

He needed to see Ilandra.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in any of her usual haunts. Which, of course, at this point was quite disconcerting for him. Now that people were going to find out Dumbledore had just been murdered, he needed to leave without being seen. They would realize he was accomplice to the murder, even if he hadn't been able to commit it himself. Snape had instructed him to leave the castle tonight and not come back next year.

But he couldn't do that until he saw Ilandra.

He had taken to scouring the abandoned hallways they sometimes took, the ones that were easy to get lost in, and finally he struck gold.

Or, at least, he would've thought that, if she weren't crumpled into a ball, shoulders heaving with silenced sobs.

 _She saw,_ his conscience whispered, a fresh wave of guilt slipping over him. He knew she had liked the Headmaster, contrary to typical Slytherin fashion. She had made it a point to try and stay out of trouble and speak with the Headmaster whenever his busy schedule allowed. She told others she just did it for the free candy, but Draco knew better.

Oh, Merlin. He'd been accomplice to her favorite professor's _murder._ This was why he'd never wanted her to know, at least not until after he'd left, at which point he wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of her hating him... She probably wouldn't even acknowledge him now.

He _needed_ to speak to her, though.

He slowly shuffled forward, until he crossed the border of the silencing spell she'd cast and the sound of her sobs reached his ears, causing his stomach to turn.

"Ilandra?" he murmured, watching as her head shot up. He saw the myriad of emotions flicker through her eyes, including-damn it-anger and even _fear_. Was she afraid of him now? He didn't know if he could live with that. It would be bad enough if she hated him, let alone being afraid of him...

"I couldn't watch," she blurted out.

A tiny glint of hope blossomed within him. Maybe if she knew the truth...?

"I couldn't do it," he said. His expression became grim. "Snape could, though."

The tears were back in her already reddened eyes. "No," she whispered.

Draco just nodded somberly, slowly moving to sit down next to her, afraid she would reject him and tell him to leave, that she would say that she hated him and didn't want him there.

She did no such thing.

The moment he was seated beside her, she wrapped her arms around him like she usually did, and he drew comfort from the embrace, his heart aching as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close.

"What's going to happen to you now?" she whispered.

Draco didn't want to leave her. He really didn't. He wasn't sure if she'd survive without him-hell, he wasn't sure if _he'd_ survive without _her_. But there was no other way.

"I can't stay here," he murmured into her hair. "People will know I was an accomplice. I can't come back next year."

He could feel her tears soaking the shoulder of his shirt. This was it; they were being torn apart by this damn war and it had barely even started. With Dumbledore's death, the safety and sanctity of this little part of their lives was crumbling, along with a portion of their sanity. Draco felt his own eyes grow hot with tears.

"Draco."

Draco and Ilandra jerked apart at the intruder's voice, Draco wiping the back of his sleeve across his eyes before looking to see who it was. Snape's imposing figure stood just a few feet away. Draco ground his teeth together, but knew that the former Potions master would keep the secret of his and Ilandra's friendship. He absently noted that the professor didn't even look the slightest bit fazed at the sight of them together. How long had he known, he wondered, without saying anything to him?

"It's time to go," Snape said, his tone brooking no room for argument.

Draco looked back at Ilandra, not wanting to leave her. He reached over and squeezed her hand one last time before standing, trying to ignore the broken look on her face.

Snape placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "I will look out for her," the professor said softly, his reassurances seeming oddly out of character for him, but Draco was grateful for it. He wouldn't have had the heart to do what he did without them.

Without so much as a goodbye, Draco turned and left, the deafening silence of his friend behind him making him want nothing more than to stay.


	3. the worst is over now

" **CRUTCH"**  
By Talye Kendrin

 _chapter three_

* * *

It wasn't the first time Ilandra had done something stupid under the Carrows' rule.

Ever since Madame Pomfrey had realized her stores of healing potions and salves were dwindling for no apparent reason, she had made a point of turning a blind eye to whomever had the bravery-or, more likely, stupidity-to steal from her wares. She had even gone so far as to blatantly leave her medicine cabinets unlocked, which was how Ilandra knew that the healer most definitely knew what she was up to, even if she didn't know that she that was the culprit.

There were so many non-Slytherin students sporting nasty cuts and broken bones that could easily get infected or set the wrong way without treatment that she had stupidly decided she could afford to sneak around and help them out. Being a Slytherin, she wasn't watched nearly as close as the members of the other houses were. Being as she wasn't quite a pureblood, either, she wasn't one of the Carrows' pets that they liked to drag around with them and make torture the 'filthy mudbloods'.

It took great effort, plus a well-executed invisibility charm and silencing spell, to sneak around the castle to the designated spot where she was to meet the poor Hufflepuff who needed her stolen salves. She looked around the otherwise deserted hallway to make sure there was no one watching before slipping behind the floor-length tapestry that hid a little nook barely big enough to squeeze two people in it. The wounded Hufflepuff jumped at her entrance, not relaxing at all when she removed the invisibility spell to reveal herself, replacing her silencing spell with one that encompassed the both of them.

She raised an eyebrow at the tense Hufflepuff third-year boy.

"What?" she said drily. "Expecting some heroic Gryffindor, were we?"

He started to stammer a response, but she held up her hand, cutting him off.

"Don't bother. Here's your salves," she said, removing the aforementioned items from the inside pockets of her robes and shoving them in his hands. "We can't afford to be here long or we'll both get caught, and I don't think either of us want to risk the consequences of that happening."

The boy nodded so vigorously his glasses just about slid off his nose. Ilandra just rolled her eyes and replaced her previous spells, slipping out of the nook and leaving the Hufflepuff to his own devices. She couldn't afford to watch over him until he got back to safety. She had just as much to lose as anybody else, when it came down to it. Sure, the likelihood of her being executed was slightly less due to her father's position on the Wizengamot and his being a pureblood; if they executed her, what sway would they have over him? They preferred to have the purebloods under their thumb willingly rather than having to Imperio them...not that they wouldn't if it came down to it, but still.

Before she rejoined one of the main hallways, Ilandra peered around to make sure there was still no one in sight before undoing her spells, stepping into the main hall at a meandering pace that suggested she had just been going for a walk around the castle with no ulterior motive. Up ahead, she glimpsed Alecto Carrow's hideous face approaching. Biting the inside of her cheek to make sure she didn't have a sour look at the Death Eater's presence, she nodded acknowledgment to the Death Eater as they passed each other by. The female Carrow gave a sick-looking smile. Ilandra only made it a few steps past her before Alecto calling her surname stopped her in her tracks.

 _Ugh. No. Don't make me actually be_ civil _with her, of all things..._

Ilandra took a deep, calming breath before pasting a smile on and turning to face the Death Eater.

"Yes? How may I help you, Professor Carrow?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

Alecto gave that sick-looking smile again and stepped towards her, leaving barely half a foot between the two of them.

"I've noticed that there have been a troubling number of items going missing from Madame Pomfrey's medicine cabinet these days," Alecto said casually.

Ilandra's veins turned to ice, but she outwardly raised an eyebrow, forcing a tone of nonchalance in her voice that she desperately hoped was convincing enough for the Death Eater. "Oh? And why, praytell, are you telling me about this, of all people?"

Alecto raised a hand and picked at her fingernails as she spoke in a bored tone.

"Well," she drawled, "I went and put a tracking spell on a number of the items that had been going missing, and I'm just about to go find who our miserable little thief is." She dropped her hand and looked back at Ilandra. "I figured you might like to practice some of your dark arts. After all, I don't think you've done any... _target practice_ with Amycus or myself lately."

She sounded much too chipper to be talking about torturing young students. Ilandra pushed down the urge to gag.

"No, I haven't," she said breezily, nodding at Alecto. "Lead the way."

They went straight back to the nook where she had just been. The damn Hufflepuff hadn't even left? He certainly wasn't very bright, then. Not that it mattered. Either way, Alecto would have found him. Ilandra couldn't afford to have Alecto suspect her of providing the salves to him. The moment Alecto drew back the tapestry, Ilandra seized the opportunity provided by the Hufflepuff's cry of surprise to whisper _obliviate_ , erasing his memory of her giving him the salve. Adrenaline hummed in her veins. That was much too close a call for her liking. Not that it was over yet; Alecto ripped the pockets of his robes open, allowing the jars of salve he'd tucked into them to crash to the floor, shattering at his feet.

"Little mudblood thief!" Alecto hissed, turning her head to Ilandra, who stood with her wand at the ready. "Teach him a lesson!" she barked.

Dread filled her as she schooled her facial expression. This was one thing she'd hoped she would never have to do. Under Alecto's watchful eye, though... She had no choice. She made eye contact with the confused and frightened third-year, trying to convey without words that she had no choice in the matter.

Still, her lips formed that dreaded word.

"Crucio."

The deserted hallway lit up with his screams.

* * *

"You're lucky you weren't caught," Snape snapped at her half-heartedly. He'd summoned her to his office after he'd heard of her little 'adventure' with Alecto Carrow, and forced the entire truth of what had happened leading up to that out of her. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her efforts to help her fellow students, but she shouldn't have been in that position to start with. Plus, aside from that, he had given Draco his word that he would look after his friend, and he couldn't very well do that when she was putting her life on the line for things he wasn't even aware she was doing. That spoke to her abilities, but unfortunately, it also spoke to her idiocy. "Never do that again," Snape ordered sternly. "If someone needs medical attention, then myself or Madame Pomfrey will see that they get it, even if we have to stick our necks out to do it. _You_ are still a student. Furthermore, I gave my word I would look out for you, you idiot."

Usually, Snape calling her names would cause her to grin. He was seized with worry when she gave no response to his insult.

Damn. This called for an emergency intervention.

Snape tossed a handful of Floo powder into his fireplace, muttering quietly so Ilandra wouldn't hear who he was sending for. He quickly stuck his head in so he could speak to the person on the other end. Not five seconds passed before he pulled his head back out, quickly backing up to make room for the guest coming through.

Ilandra glanced over at the commotion. Her eyes widened as she saw a very unexpected figure stepping out of the fireplace.

 _"Draco!"_

Snape rubbed his ears uncomfortably. It was a damn good thing he'd placed a silencing spell over his office earlier. He gazed at the two friends approvingly as they embraced after several months of not seeing each other. He frowned, though, for appearances' sake.

"You have five minutes," he barked. They couldn't afford any longer than that, or the Carrows or Draco's parents might suspect something. He hesitated before placing a second silencing spell around the two of them, allowing them some privacy as he sat in the corner of the office furthest away from them, grabbing a tome from his bookshelf to distract himself with until the five minutes was up.

They deserved a chance to be together...to heal.

* * *

Ilandra was exhausted.

The Battle of Hogwarts was almost over. She'd managed to injure and incapacitate a few of the Dark Lord's followers, but a lot of her energy was spent just deflecting and dodging errant spells. It was like mass chaos, with how many people were fighting. It was sometimes hard to tell who was on which side, and she was sure she'd caused injury to at least a couple of people that were on her side inadvertently. She'd even spotted Draco at one point, but though she'd tried to move her way towards him in the fray so that they could have each other's backs, he kept moving, and so did her adversaries. Frustrated, she flung a particularly nasty spell at the witch she was currently fighting, causing her to crumble to the ground.

Unfortunately, another wizard just popped up to take her place.

A feeling of dread washed over her as she realized from his dress that he was a bonafide Death Eater. He would be terrifyingly powerful, she realized, and she glanced around to try and see if there was anyone more qualified that could help her out. No one noticed, though, all of them too busy fighting their own battles. Steeling her resolve, she faced forward, seeing the man remove his Death Eater's mask only to smirk at her. He mouthed a spell she wasn't familiar with, and she hastily cast a shield charm, the force of it hitting her shield sending her skidding back a few feet. He was already uttering another spell though, giving her no time to recuperate, and she sent up a reflector spell, disappointed when he ducked out of the way, sending another spell hurtling her way. There was only so much she could do to deflect the barrage of spells he was sending at her.

Ilandra was exhausted.

She didn't know how long she kept it up-it felt like hours, but in reality it must have only been minutes before she was a little too slow with her shield charm, and one of his dark spells was sent crashing into her. She felt an excruciating pain explode into her legs, and all of a sudden she was on the ground, her legs unable to support her.

Boots stepped slowly into her vision, and she traced them upwards to the hem of her adversary's black robes.

Anger surged through her, and she forced her wand hand to move before he could lift his own.

 _"Avada Kedavra!"_

The flash of green light was something that would haunt her for years to come. She watched as the life disappeared from the Death Eater's eyes and he keeled over dead...directly on top of her.

She cried out from the pain that his weight tumbling onto her caused. It still felt like there was fire engulfing her legs, even though looking down proved that there was nothing visibly wrong with them. She couldn't move her legs. It was like they were... she couldn't even think the word. She didn't want to. She tried to shift the Death Eater's dead weight off of her just enough so that she could wriggle out from under him. It felt like a fate worse than death, being trapped under his dead body. Dead because _she_ had killed him-with an Unforgivable Curse, nonetheless. And she knew there was no way she could forgive herself for using it. She stopped struggling, hands reaching up to grip at the roots of her hair, pulling as she cried, barely audible above the noise of the battle.

It was a long time before the battle died down enough for her to even hear her own sniffles.

"Oh, Merlin... _Ilandra?_ " She barely registered Draco's worried voice before the weight on top of her was being lifted. Draco grunted from the difficulty of it before kneeling beside her, grabbing her face and staring her in the eye, looking frantic. "Ilandra, are you all right?"

She was ashamed of the quiver in her voice as she responded.

"Draco...I can't move my legs."

Draco turned to look at them, figuring maybe she had been hit with a partial body-bind, and muttered the release of the spell.

A fresh wave of fire engulfed her legs, and she screamed, grabbing his arm tight from the pain.

Draco looked frightened. No, no, no. He couldn't be frightened. That did not bode well. Plus, she still couldn't move her legs. This could not be happening, no, no, no...

Draco smoothed out his expression, scooping her up in his arms and standing up.

"Don't worry," he murmured soothingly, though she could hear the fear hiding behind the mock confidence in his voice. She always could. "We'll figure it out. It'll be alright. We'll figure it out."

She wanted to believe him, she thought as she surveyed the battlefield full of the dead and dying, her legs dead weight that caused her pain with every little jolt of Draco's steps.

She just couldn't.

Ilandra buried her face in the crook of Draco's neck.

They had both survived the Dark Lord's reign... But at what cost?

* * *

 **A/N:** Welp, if you've read this far, thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this sad little story. I had different ideas on how to end it, but I think this is where it'll stay. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've written this story from start to finish in approximately 24 hours. And yes, I did sleep. Haha.

Let me know what you thought by review or PM. I'd love to hear your thoughts!


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